Consignia, the company that owns the Royal Mail, is considering scrapping morning postal deliveries for homes up and down the country. The proposals are just one measure that the company is considering taking in a bid to shed more than £1.2 billion each year from its operational costs.

As things stand, postal workers are required to deliver letters and parcels to homes in towns and cities by 10am. However, Consignia is considering a change in priorities, so that only business deliveries will take place in the morning, with home deliveries later in the day. Meanwhile, homeowners could be forced to pay out several hundred pounds a year if they want to retain their morning delivery.

#Consignia claims that modern life has made the need for an early morning delivery redundant, with a spokesperson saying: "Lifestyles have changed from 30 years ago when the current delivery system was brought in. Most people are out of the house nowadays by 8am and so it does not really matter to them whether their post arrives at 9am or 3pm. We are looking at a number of proposals and we do have to make changes to save money."

However, this idea was immediately rebuffed by the Federation of Small Businesses, who argued that the many thousands of home-based workers would be the biggest losers from any such change, with spokeswoman Diane Rayner saying: "In business it's vitally important to get your post before 10am because crucial documents like cheques and contracts arrive by mail."

Other possible changes that Consignia are looking at include evening deliveries and new services for customers who want to collect their post themselves.